SHOWBIZ NATION LIVE! Interview with Pride Film and Play’s DAVID ZAK

David Zak, Executive Director of Pride Film & Plays discusses their upcoming production of Angry Fags at Steppenwolf Garage Rep and the transfer of their hit new musical The Book of Merman to the Apollo Theatre. For more information visit Steppenwolf.org and PrideFilmandPlays.com

David Zak has won 7 Jeff Awards in Chicago, including four for Directing (Animal Farm, Dr. Sex, Parade, Pope Joan), two for writing (The Hiroshima Project, The Count of Monte Cristo) and a special Jeff for “Fostering Diversity in Chicago Theater.” He has directed in London (The Irish Curse), Seoul (Dollhouse, Fanta Stick, The Ghost’s Cookbook), Dublin (Oh, Holy Allen Ginsberg, At The Flash), Boston (Sin: A Cardinal Deposed), Los Angeles (Dr. Sex, At The Flash) and New York (Marlowe and Poseidon: An Upside Down Musical). His productions of the American Premieres of Jerry Springer – The Opera and Sir Peter Hall’s Animal Farm were named Best Musical, as were his production of Parade, Pope Joan, and Dennis DeYoung’s Hunchback of Notre Dame. His most recent Chicago productions have included: the world premiere of Martin Casella’s Directions for Restoring the Apparently Dead; Sochi: Three Short Plays About Gay Athletes; and Some Men (co-directed with Derek Van Barham) by Terrence McNally. Leo Schwartz’s musical The Book of Merman opens in January, 2015 at Mary’s Attic. In 2013, the world premiere of Under A Rainbow Flag, which won 2 Jeff Awards for Best Musical Production and Best New Work. For Vermont Pride Theater he has directed many productions and readings, including the World Premiere staging of Will Fellow’s Farm Boys in 2014. He was Artistic Director of Bailiwick Repertory for 27 years, and is an educator and journalist, and was inducted into the City of Chicago’s Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 2013.